Gil Hodges Award to be part of QBC 14

THE GIL HODGES UNFORGETTABLE FIRE AWARD TO BE PRESENTED AT THE 2014 QUEENS BASEBALL CONVENTION

CONVENTION TO BE HELD AT MCFADDEN’S CITI FIELD ON JANUARY 18th, 2014

The Queens Baseball Convention announced today that it is proud to present The Gil Hodges Unforgettable Fire Award as a highlight of its daylong festivities.

The QBC is scheduled to take place at McFadden’s Citi Field on Saturday, January 18th.The Gil Hodges Unforgettable Fire Award will be presented annually by the QBC to a special figure in our team’s history whose memory will always warm our hearts, brighten our spirits and light our way.

Greg Prince, co-author of the blog Faith and Fear in Flushing and one of the organizers of the award program said, “With all due respect to the others who have held the job, when we think of ‘the manager of the Mets,’ our ideal remains Gil Hodges, both for who he was and what he did, and how that lives on for us as Mets fans.”

The goal of the award, according to Prince, is to keep Gil’s legacy aglow so even those who don’t remember him first-hand “understand what it means to have somebody like that set our team on its path and realize that all the best elements of sportsmanship and humanity can come together in a Mets uniform and a Mets clubhouse. Gil’s life reminds us that some things and some people transcend mere championships — though let’s not overlook the championship, still the signature achievement of this franchise.”

Gil Hodges (1924-1972) was a standout major league first baseman beloved by fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets, the latter of whom he led to the championship of the baseball world in 1969.

Queens Baseball Convention thanks the members of the Hodges family for their blessing of this award.